The Beauty Tag

As with all the 'tags' that are going around, I first heard about this one on YouTube and then found a good few on various blogs as well, the only strange thing is, every one I've watched or read, has slightly different questions.
You all know how much I love doing these tags and this one is no exception, so here are the most popular questions I could find, I've also added one of my own in at the end for good measure! :-)

Do you remember your first makeup item?
I never used to wear makeup at all as a teenager until a friend of mine gave me a make-over at school, if I remember rightly she gave several items to keep using and among them was a clear mascara lol, what the point was of that I'll never know!

Describe your perfect mascara, if you have one?

My absolute favourite mascara ever, that I use all the time has to be the Seventeen Doll'd Up Mascara.  It just gives my lashes so much volume and length, it even gives them a slight curl and it lasts all day with no flaking and it's water proof, seriously what more could you ask for.  I even have a spare one ready, I would hate it so much if they stopped selling this mascara!

What's your ideal coverage foundation?

One that's a good full/medium coverage but that doesn't look thickly applied, not too matt but not overly shiny and one that really lasts as long as possible, and of course a good match to my skin tone but that kind of goes without saying right?  Even though I've just said it :-/  So far I'm still looking for my 'holy grail' foundation, I'm very fussy!

Favourite high street/drugstore beauty brands?

I'm struggling with this question because I just can't choose between 3 brands, Rimmel, Maybelline and MUA, they're all so great and actually I've been really getting in to Technic lately too!


Favourite high end beauty brands?Not really a question I can truly answer because I've only ever managed to buy one high end item, my beloved Urban Decay Naked Palette, I do love it though :-)What cosmetic brand have you always wanted to try out but still haven't?

Definitely MAC, Benefit and the new Makeup Revolution brand from Superdrug, although I am currently saving up to have a nice little spend on the Superdrug website very soon, so watch this space for a good sized Superdrug/Makeup Revolution haul . . .

Do you wear fake eyelashes?

No, I'd love to try them but they're fiddly little, ahem, things!  And I can just never get the hang of actually putting them in place, and yes it bugs me!

Is there any makeup you can't leave the house without wearing?

Mascara, well and lipstick but definitely mascara

What is your most cherished beauty product?

I guess I'd have to again say my UD Naked palette, because it's the only high end product I own, it took me forever to save up for it and I'm just quite fond if it really!

Do you have a budget every month or do you spend freely?

I usually try and put a little by each month but if one time I need that cash for something else more important then that's just how it goes and I'll splash out another time, so I wouldn't say I spend freely or with a budget.  If I have some spare pennies or if I've saved up enough when I'm after something particular or I'll often wait till there's 3 for 2 offers on as well if possible.  It all helps the savings you know!

Go check out my Beauty Budget - 5 Under £5 post for some of the products I love that are total bargains!

How often do you shop for goodies?
As often as I can

What type of product do you buy the most?

I do have a slightly lipstick obsession and it's one of the things I own the most of but at the moment it's definitely lipgloss

Do you have a favourite place to shop for products?

I really like Superdrug but my local one is quite small and they don't stock that much, so I went over to being a total Boots fan quite a while ago.  I love the points/advantage card scheme too, I've used that to it's full advantage many times!

Top 5 beauty gurus?

My absolute favourite has to be Sinead Cady from The Makeup Chair . . .

She's just amazing, I've learnt so much about makeup from watching her videos and still do.


Carah Amelie . . .

She was the very first person I saw and subscribed to on YouTube about 2 and a half years ago, mostly for her gorgeous outfit ideas to start with but then for the makeup tutorials too.


Tanya Burr . . .

Probably one of the most known YouTube beauty gurus, I always enjoy watching her videos so much and she just seems the nicest person :-)

Zoella . . .

How can I make a short list of my favourite beauty YouTubers and not include Zoe Sugg, she's beautiful, adorable and it always cheers me up watching her videos, I love her daily vlogs too :-)

And finally Emily Noel . . .

If I want to see a really good, thorough review of a new makeup product Emily is the one I always go to watch.  Her tutorials are just brilliant too!

If you could only buy one makeup brand forever, which would you buy?

Ooh this is tough but I honestly think it would have to be MUA, the prices are so cheap and the quality is amazing!

Which brand has your favourite packaging?

I really like the Urban Decay packaging, each items is so nicely decorated and of course they're limited edition palettes are gorgeous.  I also really like the Soap and Glory range with the 'retro glam' theme, it's so fun and different.

Which celebrity always has the best makeup look?

It just has to be the beautiful Lauren Conrad, her makeup and style, it's all so flawless (just a little bit of green eye jealously going on here, just a smidge!!)

How do you apply your foundation – with a brush, sponge or fingers?

Definitely with a brush, my favorite Real Techniques Buffing Brush from the Core Collection set, it's just perfect for me.  I have tried using the Beauty Blender and other sponges and I do like the effect they give, but for me it has to be my brush every time.

Which foundation do you use?

At the moment it's the No.7 Stay Perfect foundation in Warm Ivory.  I had the colour-match test done at Boots and it came up with this one.  I do love it and it certainly lasts but it's also a little on the heavier side and my skin tends to feel like there's a little too much going on, no matter how little I use!  My other foundation was the Max Factor Smooth Effects foundation but sadly they have stopped doing it and so I'm currently on the hunt for an equivalent as that one was more sheer and perfect the warmer weather.

Do you use a makeup base or primer on your eyes?

I tend to always use my Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On & On Bronze as my eyeshadow base, then apply powder eyeshadow over the top, it looks perfect, smooth and lasts all day!  If I do use a primer, it's my old faithful MUA Eye Primer, amazing stuff!

Which do you apply first, concealer or foundation?

Foundation then concealer or I'd be putting concealer everywhere!

What skin type do you have?

Combination but slightly more on the oilier side

Name a makeup crime you hate?
Over-drawing the eyebrows.  I'm sorry, I know some people really like this look but personally I just think it really doesn't look good!

And for my own question - Name one product that you have a love/hate relationship with?
It just has to be eyeliner for me, I love the way it looks especially with the little winged flik, so pretty and feminine but such a nightmare to do.  Every problem you can think of with eyeliner I've had; going to thick, going too blotchy, not getting close enough to my lash-line, etc!  So thankfully using my black eyeshadow with an angled brush has been the answer for me so far! :-)

I hope you all liked my Beauty Tag.  I would love it if you answered these questions either in the comments below or on your blogs, I tag everyone :-)

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Summer Goals

Hi everyone, so I was watching Alfie Deyes' new video on YouTube (Pointless Blog) the other day, where he picked out 25 fun things that he wants to do or accomplish over the summer and thought, what a great idea and a really fun thing to do!  So I have come up with my own list of things, I couldn't quite think of 25 things and originally I was only going to write down 15 but then I had a sudden brainwave and thought of a few more lol, so now I have a list of 20 goals that I want to complete :-)

I also love the idea of documenting the list, ie taking photos of each thing I do and at the end of the summer, I'll do a blog post with all the pictures in and tell you which things I managed to accomplish (and of course which ones I didn't).

So on to my list of Summer Goals –

1.  Go swimming, because I love to swim but none of my friends do so I need to pluck up the courage and go alone!

2. Eat a fancy ice cream, a flavor I've not tried before

3. Go to a beach a build a sandcastle, with a flag and a moat lol

4. Have a picnic, such a nice thing to do in the hot weather

5. Buy a pair of brown sandals, if only you all knew how much I've been wanting some brown sandals but so far nowhere has what I'm after, so I shall keep looking until I find them!

6. Eat strawberries, I just love them but haven't even bought any this year yet

7. Finally wear my maxi dress, the one I bought about 2 years ago and still haven't been brave enough to wear, although I do need the sandals to wear with it :-/

8. Paddle in the sea

9. Play mini/crazy golf, it's a lot of fun and I haven't played it in so many years

10. Curl my hair, I never allow enough time in the mornings when I rushing to get ready and go out to actually do much with my hair and since I bought myself a conical wand about 2 years ago, it's about time I finally used it, plus who doesn't love the 'beachy-waves' look!

11. Climb a tree, just for the lols :-)

12. Make something crafty, I'm still trying to think what I should make at the moment, maybe something to help decorate my room or something usable like decorating a storage/keepsake box (what do you think?)

13. Collect a souvenir from ever place I visit, I've pretty much done just that ever since I was a child from school trips and I have already been getting a little collection of bits up together lately too, so I shall just keep on adding to that.  At the end of the summer I'll photograph all the items and label where there from :-)

14. Have some candyfloss, this time minus the wasp (yes that happen last time, not pleasant!)

15. Make a playlist of summery songs to listen to all summer

16. Let a balloon go with a message attached, I could even add my email address to it and then whoever finds it could email me and let me know!

17. Make some biscuits or mini cakes, I've haven't done that in a really long time either!

18. Grow a plant

19. Start getting up earlier, I'm so bad a sleeping in but I want to make the most of these long summer days!

20. ............ I am leaving this space blank, because I would absolutely love it if you guys would comment, give me your ideas and tell me what my 20^th summer goal should be!

Why don't you all have a go at this too, I'd love to read your lists of goals and in a couple of months come back and let me know if you managed to do them all :-)

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Partying the Night Away - The Doors Rock Gig

Ok so if I'm honest this 'night out' I'm about to tell you about actually happened just over a month ago and as the last few weeks have gone by, I'd started to think it was too long in the tooth to post about it, BUT on review I thought no, I like to have a good selection of randomness on my blog so why not!

I'd never even really heard of The Doors before, until my boyfriend played one of their albums a while back and I quite liked it, so when I stumbled on an ad for an American Doors tribute band playing at Central Station night club last month, I thought it would be fun to go along.

It cost us £10 to get in and thankfully we got there in plenty of time to see the band kick off about 8:00.  As I'd only heard the album a couple of times by then, I manage to recognise a few of the tracks but most of the others were new to me.  It didn't really matter though as I enjoyed them anyway.  The lead singer was really great, a real professional performer and they sounded just like the original band.  We could easily have been transported back to the 70's that night, it was all very authentic!  My boyfriend who was already a Doors fan, seem to have a good time and thankfully I did too.

So what did I wear to this rock gig you might ask!  Well, since (too many years ago) I used to be a 'Goth' and still have all my gorgeous clothes from back in my clubbing days, I dug out my Topshop Gargoyle no-sleeve T-shirt -

It paired really nicely with my skinny jeans and ankle boots, I also added my old-faithful leather jacket. . 

 I also added my long black crystal necklace . . .

. . . And my favourite black lace wrist cuff that I made years ago.

Sadly the pictures I tried to take of my make up did not turn out well at all, as you can see these ones are all quite dark too, which is a shame because I managed to get my eyeshadow looking particularly nice using the Collection Glam Crystals Gel Eyeliner funnily enough called 'Rock Chick', over black eyeshadow and lashings of mascara, I was quite proud of how they turned out lol!  Also I dared to try out my new 'Redder The Better' Rimmel Color Rush Balm.  Now I'm not a red-lipstick-wearer at all but I thought for this occasion it would be the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl and I was quite pleased with the results, although it's not a colour I would want to wear on a regular basis.

What do you guys think?  Have you hear or even seen the Doors. Doors tribute band?  Do you like the music?  Let me know in the comments and tell me our thoughts :-)

Also here's a couple of track for you to have a little listen to, enjoy!

The Doors – Light my Fire
The Doors - Riders on the Storm

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Budget Buys – 5 under £5

Hi everyone, time for another post me thinks, so today I thought I tell you about 5 of my favorite makeup items that I do use on a regular basis, that cost me only £5 each or less and were amazing bargains that were well worth the pennies spent on them!

First off, it's the ever popular Collection Concealer - £4.19.  Mine is in the shade Fair.

Now if you saw my 'Whats in My Makeup Bag' post a while ago, you would have seen that I have totally fallen in love with this, even over my favorite Soap & Glory Kick Ass concealer!  The coverage is amazing, it stays put all day and even the shade is a perfect match, what more could I ask for!

Next are these MUA Lipsticks - £1.00.  These are in shade 2 and shade 6.

Now I am a huge fan of MUA products so one pound for a gorgeous pigmented shimmery lipstick, well!  I just love these and admittedly have a slight obsession, I think I have 8 different shades of these lipsticks but I have to say these two just top the bill.  Shade 6 is a beautiful gentle peachy pink with a load of shimmer, which I just love to wear in the summer and shade 2 is a slightly darker pinky/redish/plum perfect for the winter months.  They are very moisturizing and although they don't have amazing staying power, they're still well worth taking a look at.  And of course they also come with the nifty little balm as well, which I always apply with a lip brush first and that definitely helps them last that much longer!


On to the next, 2True Plumptuous Lip Gloss - £1.99, mine is Shade 6

I have to say I think 2True are definitely one of those underestimated brands (like Technic), they do quite a good range of products, all of them around the £2 mark and they're pretty good quality too.  However their lip glosses have to be not only my favorite item in their range but one of my favorite glosses in general!  The sheen is always gorgeous, especially this beautiful delicate sparkly pink one, and they're quite long lasting, the scent is delicious and they're not even that sticky, I just love them there that's it really!

Following that is this Technic Eyeshadow Palette - £3.25, mine is in Nudes.

Now let's just think about this for a second, 6 lovely shimmery graduating shades, for only £1.49!!  Hmm and how much did we pay for the Urban Decay Naked palette?!  You see my point!  I just adore this palette, I use it all the time lately and I can't wait to go and see what other palettes are available.  The lightest shade is perfect for a little highlight on the brow bone and inner corner and the black is equally perfect for eyeliner, since I am totally useless at doing eyeliner and seem to manage better with a shadow, I used to use a separate one but of course now I don't have to!  I love the shimmer of these shadows and they blend beautifully.  So for that price what more could you ask for!  I also think this would be perfect for taking on holiday as it's smaller than the Naked palette and has such a great gradient of shades :-) 
And finally Maybelline 24hr Color Tattoo Gel Eyeshadow - £4.99, mine is On-and-On-Bronze (I think the usa version of this shade is Bad to the Bronze)

Who doesn't love these!?  I (obviously) like my eyeshadow to stay out for as long as possible when I go out for the day and so I find myself reaching for this little pot every single time.  They go on so smoothly, they blend easily and I am just besotted with this shade, as I love that little bit of bronzey shimmer.  I sometimes use it alone for a quick bit of colour or usually I use it as a base and add to it with either my Technic Nude Palette (above) or with a little selection from my UD Naked palette.  Either way it never fails to keep my eyes looking their best all day :-)

Bonus Item – I just couldn't resist telling you about this item as well because it's just so handy and again so budget friendly! Lipcote Lipstick Sealer - £3.69.

I used to use this many years ago but over the time, I had really forgotten how great it was.  I have an extreme problem with getting lipsticks to stay put and find the only ones I can really use are the stains, unless I use Lipcote!  I apply my lipstick, blot, apply another layer, then add a swipe of the Lipcote and I can honestly say it does stay put far longer than it ever would have done without it.  Definitely a handy little item to have!

The Collection Concealer, Color Tattoo and Lipcote are all available from Boots, MUA Lipsticks and 2True Lip Gloss are from Superdrug and I got my Technic palette from Bodycare but I think they are also available from small chemists and on ebay.

Have you used any of these items, what do you think?  Or do you have any other great makeup items that you've bought for under a fiver that you couldn't live without?  Let me know in the comments below :-)

Also I have now installed Disqus for comments, I heard this is a much easier way for people to comment, so please let me know if this works for you and if you had problems using the older system.
Thank you :-)

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A Little Visit To - The Panorama Hills in Llangollen, North Wales

Hi everyone, I had a lovely day out with my boyfriend on Saturday and once again took lots of lovely photos!  So what was my first thought when I got home, I must share them with my readers! :-)

We decided to go to Llangollen (pronounced 'Clangothlen'), which I have to say is probably my most favorite place to visit and take a nice long walk over the Panorama hills and this is what we saw. . .

The view from ground level 

The amazing view as we started off up the hill

A lovely sheep, one of many, they were everywhere lol :-)

A long way up to walk . . .

But so worth it, just look at that.  You can see for miles and believe me when I say, when you're up there looking out over the hill tops, it is truly breathtaking! :-)

Wind-swept trees lol

Castle ruins on the top of another hill, I think that might be a little adventure for another time!

Stunning rock formations, I don't know how on earth people manage to climb these but there were a few people there doing just that as we walked by!

After our long walk, we decided to get ourselves an ice cream and take a gentle walk alone the side of the river.

Just look at that, so beautiful!

We even saw the famous Llangollen Thomas the Tank Engine train!

We also spotted an adorable little family of ducklings, including one little fluffy yellow one, awww!

Thankfully it turned out to be a lovely warm sunny day with a very welcome breeze and the views were amazing. All-in-all it was a very nice day :-)  Have you been to Llangollen, what did you think? Let me know in the comments :-)

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